Easy Blue Cheese Balsamic Pizza

Thank you to Safeway for sponsoring this post. And thanks to my readers for helping me to support the brands that I love!

Today has been one of “those” crazy kind of days, where everything that could go wrong/take up more time than I have has happened. Traffic (when I have an important meeting), internet outage (when I have a deadline) and a 5th grader who…ummm…let’s just say she got into a teensy bit of trouble with mom today. All very unexpected and added a smidge of stress to things. Fortunately, they were all things that are pretty easy to let roll off my back.

It still brought some relief when I arrived home and realized that the plan I’d made for dinner was this Easy Bacon, Blue Cheese & Balsamic Pizza! This easy meal is one of my family’s favorites. The hardest part? Cooking up some bacon, which you can do while your oven is preheating. Gotta love a dinner that simple and delicious!

I’ve mentioned in the past that I love shopping at Safeway, which is where I picked up all the ingredients for this pizza, available exclusively at Safeway. The bacon, frozen pizza and balsamic glaze all come from Safeway’s Signature line, which includes more than 4,000 items! It’s amazing how many Signature brand products I notice now that I started buying it; it has everything from coffee to juice, soup to cereal, even fresh produce to fried chicken!

The Signature brand includes products across six product sectors – Signature SELECT™, Signature Kitchens®, Signature Farms®, Signature Cafe®, Signature Home and Signature Care, including a wide assortment of pantry staples, delicious prepared foods, fresh produce and ingredients that bring delight to any dish.

For my readers who don’t live near me or don’t have access to a store, don’t fret! You can also find them at all Albertsons Companies grocery stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Express, United and Carrs/Safeway.

But about this Bacon, Blue Cheese & Balsamic pizza! It starts with a Signature frozen Five Cheese pizza. The crust is soft and thick with great flavor! It was on sale 3/$11 so I picked up SIX of these delicious treats! A few were pepperoni since that’s what some of my girl’s friends like. And with summer coming, I’m sure we’ll be having many sleepovers!

I also picked up some Signature Farms Applewood Smoked Bacon. I love their thick cut bacon; cooks up perfectly. Just look at how perfectly thick yet crispy it is and tell me you don’t want to eat it right off the page!

But my favorite product that I use for this pizza? (Dreamy sigh)…It’s the Signature Balsamic Glaze. You know I love to make my own balsamic reductions (glazes) at home yet I’ve never bought one from the store. I knew that Safeway’s Signature line would have one that’s great quality, plus I needed this dinner to be as fast as possible after the day I had, so I decided to try it.

People. You must pick some up immediately! You’ll be drizzling it on everything. If you haven’t tried a balsamic glaze before but you like balsamic vinegar, just know that it’s thick and a bit sweeter than balsamic (reducing it down until it’s thick makes it sweeter). It’s absolutely, perfectly delicious on this pizza!

Making the pizza is very simple. Start with your frozen Signature Select Five Cheese Pizza:

Add some thinly sliced red onion (I like to keep mine somewhat intact but you can spread yours out if you prefer):

Now just toss it in the oven until it’s golden brown and the cheese is melted and gooey:

A large handful of arugula will add a subtly sharp bite, which is a nice contrast to the blue cheese. The hot pizza will wilt it just enough without “cooking” it, which is how I like it. After that, all that’s left is to drizzle on some of that amazing Signature Balsamic Glaze:

You won’t believe how good this pizza is! It’s so simple to make yet has more sophisticated flavors that will make your weeknight feel like something special.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Albertsons Companies. The opinions and text are all mine.

About Kristy Bernardo

On paper, I'm a chef, recipe developer and food & travel writer. In real life, I'm constantly obsessing over my love of food and new recipes and am on a lifelong quest for the perfect cocktail. I love good friends, margaritas and my beautiful daughters above all else (with blog readers coming in at a close second). I believe that hard work and grit always pay off and that a positive attitude will take you everywhere.

Hi, I’m Kristy. Thanks for stopping by!

On paper, I'm a chef, recipe developer and food & travel writer. In real life, I'm constantly obsessing over my love of food and new recipes and am on a lifelong quest for the perfect cocktail. I love good friends, margaritas and my beautiful daughters above all else (with blog readers coming in at a close second). I believe that hard work and grit always pay off and that a positive attitude will take you everywhere.